IN MEMORIAM

Motivational maestro Zig Ziglar dies at 86

Christian used his faith to connect with audiences

Published: 11/28/2012 at 5:57 PM

(WASHINGTONTIMES) — Hilary Hinton “Zig” Ziglar, 86, the man of a million motivational maxims who bucked up and cheered on three generations of Willy Lomans over a 40-year international speaking career, died near his home in Plano, Texas, Wednesday after a brief battle with pneumonia. His son, Tom Ziglar, announced Mr. Ziglar’s death in an email to the corporate mailing list of the family’s motivational business.

A onetime cookware salesman who boasted he was “born in L.A. — Lower Alabama,” Mr. Ziglar’s debut 1975 motivational book, “See You At The Top,” was rejected by 30 firms before finding a backer in a small Louisiana publishing house. The book went on to sell more than a quarter of a million copies and remains in print 37 years later. In all, Mr. Ziglar “has written more than 30 sales and motivational books, 10 of which have appeared on best-seller lists and have been translated into more than 36 different languages,” according to an official biography.